Sunday, September 20, 2009

Another project from Ruth Wyeth Spears, from her booklet "Sewing Book 3" from 1942. "One thing always leads to another. After directions for making hanging shelves of spools were published, someone wanted to know if we couldn't think of something to do with empty cans. Fortunately, we have a long memory. There came to life a picture of a rather fat little girl sitting on a small foot stool in a Victorian parlor while her Great Aunt rocked and visited. And there was something about the foot stool - yes, it had cans inside. These cans were filled with sand to make the foot stool heavy. The cover was red carpet with handles of the carpet material at the ends. So we saved six cans. A piece of upholstery material was substituted for carpet, and here is a step-by-step sketch of the foot stool that resulted. It is a great success. Yes, the cover is red, but not quite so bright as that red carpet."OK, this is a little strange. First the image of a "fat little girl"...and then there's the part about what color red this is...I assure you this is a black and white drawing. But the idea has possibilities. Report back!

I have noticed that the use of the word "fat" to describe small children and babies was fairly common in the past and did not seem to be derogatory. It was about the same as saying "cute." Prior to modern times a thin child was worried about and was a child who needed to be fed. Even as late as the 1930s (the Depression) or the 1940s (WWII) parents worried about a thin child. In only a generation we have created the opposite problem! Pamela D

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Welcome! I have this blog to share the treasures I find related to vintage sewing, and vintage fashion with occasional detours into whatever crosses my path. Everything I post is from some actual item I found. If you'd like to buy something you see contact me.
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